1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to software distribution.
2. State of the Art
Modern operating systems typically do not allow a program to modify itself. Once a program has been installed on a computer system, there is typically no need for the program to modify itself. Hence, the foregoing limitation has not been sorely felt. In software distribution, however, particularly electronic software distribution, in many instances the ability of a program to modify itself would be very advantageous. For example, if a program were able to modify itself, it could perform its own serialization and installation. The software distribution process, from the point of view of both the software publisher and the software user, could be simplified significantly. Furthermore, self-adaptive software programs may also be envisioned wherein the software program, instead of remaining static, performs intelligence gathering and changes itself over the course of time in accordance with the gathered intelligence.
The present invention addresses and overcome the foregoing limitation, allowing software programs to, in effect, modify themselves.